Diplomacy has prevailed, but Pakistan should take credible action: India

New Delhi, Feb 18 (IANS) Nearly a week after Pakistan acknowledged the role of its citizens in the Mumbai terror spree, India Wednesday said diplomacy had “prevailed” over military options and reminded Islamabad to take “verifiable and credible action” against the masterminds of the carnage. “Diplomacy has not failed. Diplomacy has prevailed,” External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee told the Lok Sabha.

“We did not mobilise a single soldier. We did not press the panic button,” Mukherjee said in response to the opposition’s criticism that the government did not do enough to pressure Pakistan after the Mumbai attacks.

He was referring to charges of war-mongering levelled by Pakistan in the aftermath of the Mumbai attacks and some sections in India who advocated using the military option to punish Islamabad.

Stressing the need for “verifiable and credible action” by Islamabad against the terrorists who ordered the Mumbai strike that killed some 170 people, Mukherjee said: “We will continue to demand that from Pakistan.”

Pakistan admitted Feb 12 that part of the Mumbai conspiracy was hatched and planned in its territory and arrested six Pakistanis after an internal probe.

India welcomed it as a “positive development” but reminded Pakistan to do more to bring the terrorists to justice and to dismantle the infrastructure of terrorism.